Sacrifices
by samantilles
Summary: Missing Scene to "Fallout" - Daniel is forced to rely on "un-diplomatic" means to get the Langarans to understand.


Disclaimer: 99 percent of this isn't mine, my bank account is still as meager as before. That one last percent is something I wanted to see for a long time. The characters and main plotlines belong to Gecko, Showtime, etc. Check their bank accounts... something tells me they have more than I do.

Title: Sacrifices  
Author: samantilles  
Word Count: 1726  
Category: Angst, Episode-Related (Season Seven: Fallout)

* * *

**Sacrifices**

"I'll tell ya, I don't know what Jack said to them, but…" Jonas crossed his arms over his chest, "they are being a little more cooperative."

Daniel notched his head, "Well, let's hope it lasts." He arched his eyebrows and slightly lowered his gaze away from Jonas, trying to keep the truth from showing on his face. He was thankfully interrupted as Sam and Kiana entered the embarkation room. As few people as possible needed to know what really changed the council's minds.

* * *

"What, so now you want to go to war?" Daniel asked incredulously. Had all this work been for nothing? "My friends are trying to save your world, and you want to destroy it?" Daniel was on the verge of losing it when General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill completed their climb into the briefing room.   

"Oh, save your breath Daniel. You folks are done." Jack stated non-chalantly, rocking on the balls of his feet, his hands in his pocket, and a smirk across his face. Daniel stood there silently as Jack and General Hammond laid the fate of Langara in the hands of the three council members. Daniel should have continued a diplomatic approach, but he no longer had the heart to do so. His silence was his approval to let the Langarans go to war, blow themselves up, and on the off chance they survived that, fall prey to any Goa'uld who wanted their way with the planet. Daniel dropped his head down and resignedly left the briefing room.  

He didn't make it very far when he was called to stop by the Kelownan delegate, First Minister Dreylock. "Dr. Jackson! Wait!" She stepped up her pace, determined to make Daniel listen. Daniel considered not stopping; his emotions were on the edge. A tap on his shoulder drained his determination to leave, and he quickly turned around to face First Minister Dreylock. "Dr. Jackson, surely what was said back there isn't true! You're not just going to give up?"  

Those words turned hurt into anger inside of Daniel. He glared at her, straight into her eyes, but for several moments he stood there silent. He did want to give up. He was sick of all of this petty bickering. Daniel opened his mouth to say something and quickly shut it again after a moment. "There is nothing more I can do for you First Minister. At some point the three of you will have to settle your differences and stop thinking that you can keep going on like this." His words were interrupted as he heard the Andari and Tiranian council members approach them; Daniel noticed the aggravated looks on their faces.  

"First Minister, surely you aren't trying to suade the Tau'ri towards a more favorable position for yourself?" Councilman Aramal shouted from down the hall. The Andari, Councilwoman Tartis, held a quick smirk on her face, convinced she had caught her adversary in a selfish act.   

Daniel's glare steered away from First Minister Dreylock and bored into the other two council members now, his blood boiling in irritation. "Excuse me? Is there really so little trust here that you first thought of that? You know, if you don't begin to realize that this is a relationship you have to work at, then you do not deserve any help that Earth might possibly give you." Daniel began to walk away, but cold, uneducated words stopped him in his tracks.  

"From what we can tell, Earth hasn't helped us out much at all, Dr. Jackson. In fact, you kept one of our greatest resources for over a year. You've been successful with your research with Naquadria. The only suggestion you've given us is to leave our planet. Anubis is gone, albeit with Earth's help. But he would have never come if you hadn't involved yourself in our world. So tell me, Dr. Jackson, what have you done to help us out lately?" The Tiranian councilman stood smugly, content with his version of the truth.  

Daniel no longer kept a cool head. His heart raced, thumping audibly from his chest. He hitched his breath trying to calm himself down, but in the end it failed. "What have I done to help you, you ask?" Daniel raised his voice, "I've given up everything humanly possible for your world, Councilman. Don't you dare question my ardor to help you!" First Minister Dreylock stepped forward, standing in the eye line between Daniel and Vin Aramal.   "Yes, Dr. Jackson, you have. Please excuse my counterparts here, they know not of what they speak." Turning to Aramal and Lucia Tartis, First Minister Dreylock began to address them as diplomatically as possible. "Councilman, I will not tolerate your attitude in this matter. Dr. Jackson and I were not having a discussion to favor only the Kelownans, and his contributions to the continued survival of Langara are far above reproach." Dreylock's facial expression hid the regret and grief she felt inside, knowing all too well Daniel's sacrifices and their government's initial reactions to them. She instinctively reached out for Daniel's arm; he deserved to hear this. "Dr. Jackson has been a vocal opponent of the Naquadria bomb project since he first traveled to Kelowna about a year and a half ago. We were so eager to protect ourselves, we repeatedly ignored his warnings."  

Ever the modest man, Daniel lowered his head, shielding himself from Dreylock's compassionate look. He did not raise his head when Aramal spoke up again. "So he opposed the bomb. You tested it anyways. What tangible benefit have we received from all this?" Daniel stopped breathing then, his eyes welling up but thankfully unwilling to spill over.  

"I died for you," Daniel whispered, without even raising his head to meet the council members' eyes. With that burden released, he sarcastically chuckled for a moment and then met Aramal's stare. "Did you know, I felt my heart stop the day I died? I felt that last heartbeat and I knew it was my last. I wasn't awake by the end, but I was aware as I drowned in my own lungs. I felt the excruciating agony of bleeding to death. Don't ask me what I've sacrificed for your causes," Daniel's soft eyes and voice turned rigid. "I died for you, and you chose to continue trying to kill each other, over what? A few differences? Do you even know what you're fighting about?" Daniel stood there in silence for a moment before finally leaving the three council members and their guards. He heard three sounds as he escaped; his racing heart, the lone echoes of his boots as they marched one in front of the other, and First Minister Dreylock beginning to explain. "About a year and a half ago, there was an accident in our lab…"  

* * *

Epilogue:  

Jack heard Daniel's rant from his shadowed corner in the corridor. He would have stepped in as soon as Councilman Aramal began to berate Dr. Jackson's contributions to the Langarans, but he heard Daniel step up and defend himself first. _Finally_, he thought. _Daniel needs to get angry_. Jack thought Daniel needed to get angry when Daniel first returned from Kelowna, dubbed a saboteur. Daniel needed to get angry with the lack of respect he received after the incident with Anubis. No one from Kelowna even formally acknowledged his presence immediately after Anubis's defeat.   

But then Jack heard Dreylock's condemnation of Aramal, and a small smile broke across his lips. _Yes, Daniel, you need to hear this_. But as quickly as that smile broached, it disappeared in a rage at Aramal's rebuttal. Jack nearly emerged from his hiding spot when those four quiet words broke the silence; they ripped through his heart. "I died for you." Daniel's commentary on his own death was one he hadn't heard. In these past few months, Daniel had remembered most of his previous life. It never occurred to Jack though that Daniel would remember his death. _Dammit Daniel_. The tear that refused to fall for Daniel released for Jack as he hung his head on his chest, still listening to his best friend. That was one memory no one should ever have.   

He immediately thought to run after Daniel, but knowing his best friend, it would be better if he waited a few moments. He listened as Minister Dreylock explained that if Dr. Jackson had not prevented the accident in the labs from happening, the blast itself would have destroyed any hope for Langara. The blast would have started the deterioration of Naquadah into Naquadria (assuming the Kelownans didn't continue with the bomb demonstration months later) and would have swallowed up the Kelownan capital, burying the Stargate with it. Without the Stargate and Jonas's research the year he served with the SGC, the Langarans wouldn't have known that their planet was about to destroy itself. "Dr. Jackson's selfless act disarming the bomb saved not only thousands in the immediate vicinity of the Kelownan capital, but every life on Langara by preserving the lifeline to other planets through the Stargate." Hearing his friend vindicated by the same people who were determined to drag his name through the mud as he laid on his deathbed was simultaneously ecstatic and heart wrenching for Jack. The year Daniel was ascended was the hardest time Jack had to experience since his son's death. Unlike Charlie's death though, there was no closure for Jack and his team. His loss was a constant wound.   

Jack took off in the opposite direction from which Daniel traveled. His anger at the situation gradually lessened as Dreylock's words sunk into him. _Perhaps there's hope left. Perhaps someone knows the gift Daniel gave to you_. Jack found himself walking towards Daniel's lab. As he turned the corner, he found Daniel slowly walking the last corridor to his office. Jack silently sped up; he was shoulder to shoulder with Daniel before the archaeologist even realized he had company. Jack gripped Daniel's arm and swung him into a tight hug. _Yup, he's still here_.


End file.
